Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - cresset

 noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from creisse, gresse grease — more at grease  Date: 14th century an iron vessel or basket used for holding an illuminant (as oil) and mounted as a torch or suspended as a lantern CRESSIDA  noun  Date: 14th century a Trojan woman of medieval legend who pledges herself to Troilus but while a captive of the Greeks gives herself to Diomedes